Thursday, October 10, 1991
Shattered
Paradise
rebuilt
b Christi Luden
The Collegian
Seeing life through a child's
eyes is often the remedy for deep
and complex problems. When
Ben and Lilley Reed (Don
Johnson and Melanie Griffith)
decide to take a little boy into
their home for the summer, they
don't know how much he will
change their lives. Once happy
and now torn apart, their
relationship is slowly mended in
Paradise.
Willard (Elijah Wood) is a 10-
year-old boy whose mother is
pregnant and whose father,
unknowingly to Willard, has left
the family for another woman.
Too much for his mom to
handle, Willard is taken to live
with the Reeds until she gives
birth to her child.
A lonely and scared little boy
who makes up stories to be
accepted, Willard finds a friend on
his first day with the Reeds.
Nine-year-old Billie (Thora Birch)
is a tomboy who lives next door
to the Reeds and has also had a
rough life with her single, flirty
Children can make
significant
differences in all
the lives they touch.
mother and teenage sister
Darlene.
Being a loner, Willard tries
not to accept Billie's invitations
for friendship until she makes
him an offer that's too good to
refuse: perching in a treehouse to
watch a naked Darlene iron her
clothes.
This scene is one of many
that illustrates the curiosity and
shocking comments that boys of
this age are known for. It also
marks the beginning of an
innocent, cute and extremely
close friendship that develops
between the two.
After Willard's confrontation
with his new found friend, we
begin to get a picture of the
family he will be living with.
Lilley (Griffith)is a country
woman who spends her time
hanging the wash on the
clothesline and sewing her own
clothes. She is quiet and seems
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excited about having Willard stay
with them.
On the other hand, Ben Reed
(Johnson) is a hard-nosed,
grumpy fisherman that is more
than disgusted about Willard's
presence. He makes it clear that
he will not be responsible for
keeping the boy entertained.
Through a series of adorable
scenes, Willard manages to touch
Ben and becomes his little buddy
instead of just a nuisance. Ben
helps Willard to take control of
his life and ask the right people
the right questions, while Willard
helps bring the best out of Ben.
Willard also manages to get
closer -to Lilley. She begins to
show him the caring and love
only a mother could, and Willard
is eager to accept this
compassion to replace what he's
missing from his own mother.
This may seem like a happy
and joyful scenario, but instead it
is tainted by the distant
relationship that Ben and Lilley
share. We find out that the two
had lost their 3-year-old son just
two and a half years ago, and
neither has really dealt with their
loss. Instead of binding together
in a life-shattering situation, Ben
and Lilley grew apart due to
feelings left hidden and words left
unsaid.
Don Johnson is the perfect
actor to play this part. Ben needs
to be gruff, but soft-looking and
hard-nosed, but loving. Johnson
does a spectacular job combining
these characteristics into a
character that we can first hate
and then, by the end, feel deep
compassion for.
Melanie - Griffith also portrays
Lilley to a tee. A beautiful, soft
spoken country woman who you
feel remorse for throughout the
film for different reasons. She is
the perfect contrast to Johnson.
Elijah Wood contains all the
characteristics needed to portray
Willard as a sweet,young loner
who is looking for someone to
love and share his life with. He
not only enters the hearts of the
Reeds and Billie, but also every
audience member in the theater.
Director, Mary Agnes
Donoghue does a great job
combining a very serious adult
theme with the anecdotes and
innocence of children. Paradise is
yet another example of how
children. although seemingly
immature and unexperienced, can
make a significant difference in
the lives of all they touch.
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The Collegian
Toad Fears nothing
New release deals with
social problems
b Sean Dou
The Collegian
The group Toad the Wet
Sprocket got its name from a
Monty Python skit they were in.
Since this group doesn't have a
name that sounds anything like
the name of a band, one might
expect this music to be punk,
new age or something relatively
extreme.
However, Toad the Wet
Sprocket's style is a mix of
progressive rock and pop. It is
progressive rock because the rock
songs are sounds that generally
would not have much success
aired on a rock station.
Their latest release, Fear,
contains songs that deal with
current social problems.
Their songs are serious and
moving and confront such topics
as rape, death, lack of religion
and parental abandonment.
Their lead single, "Is It For
Me" is a unique song about
teenage boys and their vandalous
escapades. The sound is rock with
powerful electric guitar, strong
vocals and guitar soloing.
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"Hold Her Down," a song
about rape is of course serious
and unusually moving. It forces
the listener to deal with feelings
like that of a rape victim. The
song is typical rock with much
variation and the vocals of an
angry youth.
A slower song, "Pray Your
God," is about growing away
from religion written from God's
point of view. "I feel my body
weakened by the years as people
turn to gods of cruel design. Is it
that they fear the pain of death or
This album is
depressing in a good
way.
could it be they fear the joy of
life." It is a sarcastic view of
religious faith.
A song that could have been
their lead single is "Walking On
The Ocean." It is about missing
the dead. It is slower and includes
cellos, violins and a mandolin
which provides a skeleton of
sorts for the music. The vocals
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are strong, yet sensitive and the
music plays smoothly.
Toad's lyrics are about obscure
topics. One of their songs deals
with the feelings of an abandoned
child. This song is entitled
"Befcie You Were Born." It is
sung in a moving way from an
adult to an abandoned child.
"God damn the people who
left you in pain/God damn the
father without face and God damn
the lovers who never showed up
and God damn the wounds that
show how deep a word can cut."
Once again, there is an
emotional appeal. The song is
slow and soft. Six-string chords
are allowed to subtly ring on in
the background. A bass guitar and
synthesizer are left to give the
song its full sound.
Although this album is
frankly depressing, it's depressing
in a good way. It causes you
to think (kind of like U 2), and
also brings out your compassion.
And besides the obvious moving
quality of the lyrics, the feel of
the music perfectly reflects the
lyrics. Fear is an excellent
addition to any music collection.